Mervine I (Destroyer No. 322)
Rear Adm. William Mervine, born 14 March 1791 at Philadelphia, Pa., was appointed midshipman in January 1809. Serving on Lake Ontario during the war of 1812, he later cruised off Africa and South America, in the West Indies and in the Pacific. While in command of Savannah during the war with Mexico, 1846‑47, he led a detachment of Sailors and Marines against Monterey, 7 July 1947, took possession and hoisted the American flag over the city. Serving also during the Civil War, he commanded the Gulf Squadron from 6 May 1861, until obliged by ill health to give up the command 22 September 1861. He died at Utica, N.Y., 15 September 1868.
I
The first Mervine (Destroyer No. 322) was laid down at the Union Plant, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., San Francisco, Calif., 28 April 1919; launched 11 August 1919; sponsored by Miss Eileen D. McCarthy; and commissioned 28 Feb. 1921, Comdr. C. E. Battle, Jr., in command.
Mervine, built on the west coast, joined the Pacific Fleet at San Diego after shakedown to remain a unit of that fleet's destroyer force for her entire career. With few interruptions she operated off the west coast for most of that 9‑year period. Her participation in Fleet Problems I (1923) and II, III, and IV (1924) took her to the Canal Zone and the Caribbean, while others, VI (1926), VII (1928), and IX (1929), saw her in maneuvers off Central America and near Hawaii. Crossing the Pacific only twice in her career, she completed a good will trip to Samoa and Australia in the summer of 1925 (1 July to 26 September).
On 18 September 1929 she entered San Diego for the last time. Decommissioned 4 June 1930, she was towed to Mare Island on the 14th for scrapping and struck from the Naval Register 3 November 1930.
